Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge, center, top, celebrates after hitting a walk off grand slam home run off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Cordero during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, May 8, 2012. The Athletics won 7-3. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge, center, top, celebrates after...

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Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge swings for a three run home run off Detroit Tigers' Duane Below during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 11, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press

Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge swings for a three run home run off...

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Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge, right, is congratulated by Seth Smith (15) after Inge hit a three-run home run off Detroit Tigers' Duane Below during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 11, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press

Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge, right, is congratulated by Seth...

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OAKLAND, CA - MAY 10: Brandon Inge #7 of the Oakland Athletics hits a grand slam home run against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum on May 10, 2012 in Oakland, California. The Detroit Tigers defeated the Oakland Athletics 10-6. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

OAKLAND, CA - MAY 10: Brandon Inge #7 of the Oakland Athletics rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam home run against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum on May 10, 2012 in Oakland, California. The Detroit Tigers defeated the Oakland Athletics 10-6. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

Photo: Jason O. Watson, Getty Images

OAKLAND, CA - MAY 10: Brandon Inge #7 of the Oakland Athletics...

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Oakland Athletics' Brandon Inge, center top, celebrates after hitting a walk off grand slam home run off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Cordero during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, May 8, 2012. The Athletics won 7-3. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Bob Melvin got to know Brandon Inge 12 years ago, when Melvin worked as the Tigers' catching coach and Inge was a prospect at the position. They quickly developed a rapport, which set up a running joke for Melvin as he became a big-league manager.

"Wherever I've been, whether in Arizona or Seattle, I'd look across before the game and kind of pat the seat next to me, saying you can come over here anytime," Melvin said. "And he'd give me one of these." The A's manager wagged his finger, demonstrating how Inge declined his invitation.

Inge changed his silent RSVP about two weeks ago, put on an Oakland uniform and loudly revived his dormant career. The name that had gone from adored to profane to irrelevant in Detroit was suddenly linked with Lou Gehrig's. On Friday, Inge hit his fourth homer for the A's and knocked in four runs for the fourth time in five games, a feat matched by only the Iron Horse.

The small sample size prohibits big conclusions. Inge has not discovered his inner Barry Bonds, and the A's have not reasserted their "Moneyball" genius. Together, they're an abridged baseball fairy tale, finding soul mates for the moment.

"Certain places are great fits for guys, and this seems to be a great fit for him," Melvin said.

The Tigers have become a pricey club, freighted with big expectations. With the arrival of Prince Fielder, the infield became too crowded for Inge to keep his job at third base. He played in just nine games before Detroit cut him. The A's had an opening at third, and according to Melvin, they considered Inge back in spring training, when Scott Sizemore ripped up his ACL. The Tigers weren't ready to let go of a player who had been a stalwart third baseman and twice hit 27 home runs in a season.

But Inge couldn't be that player for them again. He needed breathing room, and Oakland offered it. Melvin said general manager Billy Beane reacted immediately to Inge's release, calling his agent and promising that he'd be an everyday player for the A's.

Inge insists that he didn't see vengeance behind his grand slam Thursday and three-run homer Friday against the Tigers. "It's more a feeling of being wanted here," he said. "And there's no sob story about Detroit. I don't have any hard feelings toward anyone there. ... It's a business, and obviously, they didn't need me anymore. And I didn't play well for them towards the end."

He said the A's coaches had helped him almost immediately, mostly by reassuring him that, despite a 2-for-15 stretch in his first four games with the team, his swing looked good. The hits, they said, would eventually come.

Inge met Beane in the weight room, the general manager's favored habitat on game days, and felt even more comfortable.

"The way he talked to me in there, it was like he was another ballplayer in the clubhouse," Inge said. "I loved it, I loved it."

If that sounds like sucking up to the boss, consider that Inge has never seen the movie "Moneyball," although meeting Beane made him more interested in watching Brad Pitt's interpretation of the GM. He says he knows almost nothing about sabermetrics, a guiding principle for the A's of the last decade. He does remember their fondness for taking endless pitches and trying to eke out walks - part of the sabermetrics doctrine.

"I didn't really like that philosophy," Inge said, "because when you're playing against teams that are aggressive, they're the ones that can scare you. Teams that try to walk, that's just not intimidating."

The approach might be smart, but Inge said no one on his new team has tried to coach him in that direction. When Melvin and ex-teammates talk about Inge's merit, they lean heavily on intangibles, not statistical analysis.

"He was always there for everybody to talk to," Tigers outfielder Don Kelly said before Saturday's 3-1 loss to the A's at the Coliseum. In 2009, his first season as a Tiger, Kelly said, he lost a flyball in the Metrodome, and Inge "was the guy who really stepped up and took me under his wing. ... We went out to dinner after that game, and he helped calm me down."

Melvin expects him to have a similar effect on the A's younger players. He does not expect huge numbers.

"If he hits .240, .250 and drives in runs," Melvin said, "and gives you big at-bats in big situations the way he has been - he's not going to keep this pace up - but he's going to be a lot better than anything else we've had up to this point."